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Top 4 types of interview questions : There are 4 types of interview questions you’re likely to encounter. If you can recognise them, you’ll be able to answer them more effectively. General capability questions, soft skills questions, competency or behavioural questions and situational questions. Read more

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The top 4 types of interview questions

There are 4 types of interview questions you’re likely to encounter. If you can recognise them, you’ll be able to answer them more effectively.

General capability questions are asked so the interviewer can learn about your skills and achievements. They include “Tell me about yourself”, “What is your biggest achievement” and “What are your strengths?”

Soft skills are about your ability to interact with your co workers and customers. They can enhance your job performance and your career prospects. In some jobs your soft skills will be more important than your skill set.

The legal profession is an example where the ability to deal with people more than their legal skill set can determine their success as a lawyer.

For example: “Can you give me an example of how you handled a very tense situation at work”?

Competency or Behavioural questions are about your past performance and behaviours. Companies who ask these questions have predetermined the skills they require for a particular role. Typical competencies are leadership, problem solving and team skills. They normally start with a “tell me about a time when” or “Describe a situation when “.

For example – “Can you tell me about a time when you had to use your presentation skills to influence someone’s opinion”?

Situational questions concentrate on how you might behave in the future. Such as “What would you do if you had to work in a team with somebody whose opinions you didn’t agree with”?

For free examples of all of these questions so that you can practice your answers please download the support document.